Report confirms collusion between police and loyalists who killed six Catholics in Co Down

Families of six men murdered by loyalist gunmen say an investigation which shows some police officers colluded with the killers has finally delivered the truth.

The men were shot dead by paramilitaries in Loughinisland, Co Down, in June 1994.

They were watching a World Cup football match in Heights Bar during the attack, which came to be known as the Loughinisland massacre.

The first report into the shooting by the Ombudsman five years ago was rejected by the victims' families, after it found there was no evidence of collusion between police and the UVF who carried out the killings.

However, today's report claims the initial investigation included "catastrophic failings" by the police.

Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire said he has "no hesitation in saying collusion was a significant feature of the Loughinisland murders".

He also said: "The report evidences instances when police were content not to ask these people for information about serious crime: instances when people volunteered such information and police chose not to act upon it and instances when informants were protected from investigation.

"Some police officers appeared to have placed more value on gathering information and protecting their sources that on the prevention and detection of crime," he added.

Northern Ireland security expert Alan Murray has been looking at the report's findings, and spoke to Pat Kenny:

“The findings must now be carefully examined with a view to the question of further investigations and possible prosecutions," he added.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams argued that “a step change in the Irish government’s response to collusion is urgently needed. It needs to put in place a consistent strategic engagement with the British government".